Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will help Delaware protect consumers

Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will help Delaware protect consumers

Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden said his office gained new powers to better protect
Delaware investors under the federal financial reform legislation President Obama signed into law
today.

“These important reforms direct significant new federal resources to protect consumers’
interests and give states new authority to enforce consumer financial protections,” Biden said.
“Reckless behavior in recent years has caused pain that is still being felt around kitchen tables in every
corner of our state. With this new law, we now have stronger state and federal oversight of the
financial industry and more protections for Delawareans who invest their hard-earned money.”
Specifically, the Wall Street reforms:
• establish a new federal consumer financial protection agency to regulate consumer financial
products and services
• preserve state consumer protection laws governing financial services and empower state
Attorneys General to stop abusive and deceptive practices by enforcing federal consumer
protection regulations against national banks. Giving states the authority to enforce federal
consumer protection regulations was a top priority of state Attorneys General.
• increase the number of investment firms that are required to register with and be regulated by
the Delaware Attorney General’s Securities Unit
• allow the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate investment firms’ agreements with
clients that require the use of binding arbitration to resolve disputes. If the SEC limits their
use, Delaware will be in a stronger position to pursue relief on behalf of investors who are
harmed from misconduct by brokers and investment advisers
• create a grant program for states to assist with their monitoring of investment professionals who
bill themselves as experts in providing investment advice to senior citizens
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Former foster parent sentenced to 20 years for child exploitation

Former foster parent sentenced to 20 years for child exploitation

Wilmington – The Delaware Child Predator Task Force announced today that Steven Hughes, age 52,
of Newark was sentenced this morning by Superior Court Judge Richard R. Cooch to 20 years in
prison on child exploitation charges. Hughes is a former foster parent who operated a photography
studio specializing in the photography of young children and also billed himself as a “Santa Claus”
who would conduct home visits.

“People who create, possess, and distribute child pornography are predators,” Biden stated.
“The Delaware Child Predator Task Force will track them down, prosecute them and put them behind
bars.”

Hughes was arrested in Millsboro on October 22, 2009 and was indicted on November 9, 2009
on multiple counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child and Dealing in Child Pornography. The
indictment alleges that Hughes possessed 18 images of a 6 year-old female exposing her genitalia in
sexually explicit poses and numerous other images of toddler-age females forced into sex acts with
adult men. Hughes was charged with distributing these images by publishing them online to any
interested party, including undercover law enforcement agents involved in the investigation. In total,
the ongoing investigation revealed that Hughes maintained over 15,000 images of child exploitation,
hundreds of which he created himself. He pled guilty to 5 counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child on
April 15, 2010.

This case was the direct result of a proactive child predator investigation initiated by the New
Castle County Police Department and conducted jointly with the Delaware Child Predator Task Force,
which Biden established in 2007, where prosecutors and investigators work side-by-side with
Delaware State Police and other agencies to do nothing but investigate crimes against children. This
collaborative effort targets, investigates, and prosecutes online sexual predators that may otherwise
evade detection.
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Three indicted in multi-state $100,000 pyramid scheme

Three indicted in multi-state $100,000 pyramid scheme

Dover – Attorney General Beau Biden announced that his office has secured indictments against three
people on charges that the trio ran a fraud scheme that cost two Delawareans more than $100,000.
Terrel Alexander, age 41, of Wilmington, Nicole Alexander, age 41, of Mt. Laurel, NJ, and
William Love, III, age 39, of Mt. Laurel, NJ were indicted by the Kent County Grand Jury on 15
charges apiece, including Racketeering, Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering, Securities Fraud, Theft,
Sale of Unregistered Securities, and Acting as an Unregistered Broker/Agent.

“With today’s indictment we’re holding these defendants accountable for cheating Delawareans
out of their money,” Biden stated. “We urge anyone who believes they have been the victim of
investment fraud to contact our Investor Protection Unit at 302-577-8424.”

Each defendant was a principal of Credit USA Inc., a company purporting to offer credit repair
products. The indictment charges that Credit USA was operated as a pyramid scheme designed to
personally enrich the three defendants. In pyramid schemes, investors are recruited to pay previous
investors with the promise that they will be repaid with interest by later investors. Those who start the
scheme get most of the “profit”, and later investors are left with nothing when additional investors
can’t be found. The indictment alleges that, in addition to selling memberships in the pyramid
promotion, the defendants sold stock and other unregistered investments in Credit USA, defrauding
two Delaware investors out of more than $100,000.00. If convicted on all counts each defendant faces
a minimum of 2 years in prison and a maximum of 76 years in prison.

In a related action, New Jersey’s Attorney General also announced the filing today of a civil
lawsuit against these same defendants concerning the unregistered sale of securities.
Consumers who believe they may have been victimized in this scheme or other investment
frauds are urged to contact Special Investigator Kevin Lange in the Attorney General’s office at 302-
577-5101.

The Delaware Department of Justice reminds the public that an indictment is merely an
allegation and is not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a jury
trial at which the state bears the burden of proving each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Allen Taylor sentenced to life for 2008 Wilmington murder

Allen Taylor sentenced to life for 2008 Wilmington murder

Wilmington, DE – Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that Allen Taylor, age 38 was
sentenced this afternoon by New Castle County Superior Court Judge John A. Parkins to life in prison
without the possibility of parole for the August 18, 2008 Wilmington murder of Jaiquone Moore.
“Allen Taylor’s conviction and today’s sentence ensures that justice will be served for this
senseless killing,” Attorney General Biden stated. “We want to recognize Deputy Attorneys General
Maria Knoll and Brian Ahern and their team for their excellent work prosecuting this difficult case.”
“We can only shake our heads at the suffering this defendant’s actions have caused the victim’s
family,” lead prosecutor Maria Knoll stated.

On April 27, 2010 in New Castle County Superior Court a jury convicted Taylor of Murder 1st
Degree and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony. At the State’s request, Judge
Parkins sentenced Taylor under Delaware’s habitual offender statute, sentencing him to 50 years in
prison for the firearm conviction.

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